What is Interdisciplinary?

Discipline
(and punish? :-)

Physics Chemistry

Biology Mathematics Economics

Psychology Etc.
 Or . . .

Physics
Chemistry
Biology

Social Sciences

Etc.
q
Or . . .

Mathematics

Real World
But is this really . . .

Mathematics

Real World
Back to this version . . .

Physics Chemistry

Biology Mathematics Economics

Psychology Etc.
Multidisciplinary involves
pieces of more than one

Physics Chemistry

Biology Mathematics Economics

Psychology Etc.
 Some disciplines seem to
lend themselves easily to
this . . .
Mathematics

Physics Biology Chemistry Psychology Economics

Etc.
 Or . . .

Computer
Science

Physics Biology Chemistry Psychology Economics

Etc.
 Or, some claim . . .

Philosophy

Physics Biology Chemistry Psychology Economics

Etc.
Interdisciplinary, on the other
hand, lives in interstices:
Philosop
Linguistics
hy

Cognitive
Biology Computing
Science

Psychology Etc.
 Eventually (or often, or
hopefully) it goes both ways:
Philosop
Linguistics
hy

Cognitive
Biology Computing
Science

Psychology Etc.
Another traditional example:

Geograp
Economics
hy

Biology Ecology Management

Poly. Sci. Etc.

Sometimes, these become
new disciplines:
Geograp
Economics
hy

Biology Ecology Management

Poly. Sci. Etc.

Of course, this Summer
School is:

Physics Economics

Complex
Biology Computing
Systems

Poly. Sci. Etc.

 How to become
interdisciplinary . . .
• Exposure to a variety of disciplinary work
• Exposure to interdisciplinary work
• Exposure to and experience with tools and
methods from a variety of disciplines

• Exposure to and experience with

interdisciplinary tools and methods

• Experience working with others in an

interdisciplinary mode . . .
 And also, an understanding of how
disciplines work . . .
A discipline typically has:
• A language (with technical terms . . .)
• An ontology (a collection of “objects”)
• An epistemology (what constitutes knowledge,
and how to acquire and validate it)

• A collection of methods and tools

• A (collection of) theoretical perspective(s)
• Criteria for “acceptability” (of subject matter,
methods, and behavior . . .)
To be interdisciplinary, one
must be able to:
• Be comfortable with multiple languages, and
shift easily among them

• Be comfortable with a variety of ontologies,

epistemologies, methods, tools, and theoretical
perspectives

• Be able to shift perspectives easily, and

continually see things in new ways

• Use analogies and metaphors fluidly

 And further . . .
• Develop facility with tools and methods from
various disciplines

• Develop facility with new and innovative tools

with multiple applicability

• Understand criteria of rigor and acceptability,

and eventually, work to develop your own such
criteria

• And, be willing to be an “outsider,” to take risks,

and have internal measures of success and
value . . .
During the Summer School,
we try to
• Expose you to a variety of discipline based
subject matters, methods and tools

• Expose you to a variety of interdisciplinary

examples, methods and tools (e.g., entropy and
probabilistic methods)

• Expose you to uniquely interdisciplinary efforts

currently being explored (e.g., network/graph
methods, agent based modeling)

• Push you to engage in interdisciplinary work in

a group context, and to work outside your
familiar domain of experience
 Important goals of the
Summer School are:
• To help you build your experience and skills as
interdisciplinary workers

• To have you serve as examples of such work

after you leave the Summer School

• To be seeds, spreading new methods, new

approaches, and new ideas

• And also, to provide a context in which those

working in the field can present, discuss, and
explore their work with the next generation . . .
 Will it work?
• Obviously, there are no guarantees. The
Summer School itself is an experiment in a
variety of ways. Each Summer things are
different. We explore different approaches to
content, to pedagogy, to interaction with
students, to schedules, etc.

• The continued interest by students in

participating, and positive response to their
experience, says we are doing at least some
things right :-)